Step into my time machine, week eight

This week, we make a quick stop about three weeks shy of a year after our usual destination. It was the week of June 5, 1976, that Jimmy Dean's last sizable chart hit peaked. It was called I.O.U., and it tipped the scales at 9 on the on the country charts and 33 on our Cashbox survey. Jimmy passed this Sunday past at the age of 81. In addition to being a star on the Daniel Boone TV show- the second one to die this year- He was a great singer and entertainer. When I was little, the records I got to play were basically his Big Bad John, Johnny Horton's Battle of New Orleans, and Bill Hayes' Davy Crockett. Godspeed Jimmy, you'll be missed. Maybe that Cajun Queen will come around and do for you what she did for John. On to June 21, 1975.

We have a big week this week- 10 top 100 debuts, 5 into the top forty- including the King- and a whopping 4 new top tens, and yet another new #1. Also, our two new features, with a little twist to one, and all the usual fun. Let's go!

Coming into the hot 100 are 10 debuts, and we know a bunch of them this week! At 95 is Falling In Love by Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds (who were actually Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Dennison by this point, but decided not to mess with a good thing); at 94, Ambrosia with the haunting Holding On To Yesterday; 89 was Janis Ian's At 17; in at 88 roared Sweet with Ballroom Blitz (OOOOOOOOOOO YEAHHHHH...); Barry Manilow took 85 with Could It Be Magic, built around Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in C Minor, Opus 28, Number 20; At 83 was Bad Company with Feel Like Makin' Love; and way up at 71, a song that is yet another example that my favorite song by any artist will tend to be one of their most obscure, Morning Beautiful by Tony Orlando and Dawn. What a crop that is!

A lot of the high and low movers have top forty and top ten implications, so things are going to get a bit intertwined after I announce that the Beach Boys' Sail On Sailor moves up 4 to 62 this week. There is a two way tie for biggest dropper this week: the lower drop was the 30-notch plunge by the Temptations with Shaky Ground, down to 58; the other is Ace's former top dog How Long, with its 30-spot drop landing them at 51. The top gainers- 3 of them- all climb seventeen spots, two of them into the top 40. the lower one is Aerosmith's Sweet Emotion at 63.

So now we hit the top 40 debuts, and they start with Elvis at 40 with T-R-O-U-B-L-E; Then we have that sounds-just-like-all-the-rest Barry White song that debuted in the hot hundred 5 weeks past- and I guess I should mention that this verse to the song that doesn't end is called I'll Do Anything You Want Me To (see why I avoided naming it till now? BJ Thomas' competition); The Bee Gee's just miss the big movers logjam with Jive Talkin' coming in at 37; and the remaining big movers, the Eagles at 25 with One Of These Nights, and Olivia Newton-John with Please Mister Please (hey! weren't you the big mover last week?) at 24.

At this point we interject our salute to the guy that just didn't make the top ten- and this one it may be no surprise but it is a shame. After peaking at 17 last week, Roger Whittaker slips to 20 with the rich ballad The Last Farewell. Roger sold 55 million records worldwide during his career, and 11 million of them were this song, which topped the Adult Contemporary chart and peaked at 2 in the UK. Next, we salute our birds that have fallen from the top 10 nest: Get Down, Get Down by Joe Simon at 14, Grand Funk's Bad Time at 16, Chicago's Old Days at 22, and the former top dog Before The Next Teardrop Falls at 29.

Leading off the top 10, moving up 5, is a former high debut and big mover winner: the Doobies' (Take Me In Your Arms) Rock Me; hustling up to 9, a ten spot dance is Van McCoy and The Hustle. Another ten spot jumper, as if it had wings, is Wings with Listen To What The Man Says, at 8; America slides exhausted from 2 to 7 with Sister Golden Hair at cleanup. Jessie Coulter's I'm Not Lisa climbs 4 to #6; and last week's top dog, John Denver's Thank God I'm A Country Boy, drops all the way to 5. Michael Murphy speeds to 4, up 3, with Wildfire. Now, if you're keeping track, we still have a new #1, and a top ten debut to come... but let's draw out the suspense just a bit, shall we?

Last week, we did the number one's from twenty, thirty, etc., years ago. To avoid monotony, I changed it up and added one year to each decade on this trip. Thus, in 1991 we had Paula Abdul at 1 with Rush, Rush; in 1981 it was the constantly playing Stars On 45 Medley; in 1971 the top dog was Ringo Starr's It Don't Come Easy; in 1961 Rick Nelson was in the middle of a 3-week stay at the penthouse with Travellin' Man; and in 1951, it was a delightful little duet between the Lennon-like voice of Mary Ford and the instrumental virtuosity of guitar god Les Paul, How High The Moon. I didn't know this one, but if I ever get back to burning cds again, I will have to remember it then.

All right, let's wrap this up. Number two is the remaining debut, skyrocketing up from 11 - the Captain and Tenille with, of course, Love Will Keep Us Together. And our new number one? Linda Ronstadt- When Will I Be Loved.

And with that, it's sadly time to return home again. See you all next week!